Ever feel like this?

Some days you know how this one feels

Today's Reading June 16

This morning we get into the book of Nehemiah, chapters 1, 2, and 3.
Ezra was focused on rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and cleansing the leadership, especially the priests and Levites, of their compromises with the idolators who lived around them. The relationship of the people to the LORD has to come first.
Nehemiah follows on to that by rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, beginning with its walls and gates.
Walls and gates have become controversial in our time, part and parcel over the erroneous desire to avoid accusations of discrimination. That's nonsense. There is nothing inherently wrong with discrimination, it simply means the ability to draw a distinction, something the Lord does throughout the Bible. If you can't distinguish between cow manure and steak, I'm not eating barbecue at your house, but the distinction between the two is ''discrimination'', and A Good Thing, too. Likewise, walls, and gates, and fences make clear that there are lines and boundaries that should not be lightly crossed. There are locks on the doors to my house, and even latches on interior doors like those into the bathroom. There are doors and walls and such on the bank and bank vault. There are normally, and should be, walls and fences and gates on the borders between two countries. And distinctions between the sacred and the profane, the Hebrews and the Syrians, the good and the bad. The idolators who lived near Jerusalem didn't like the idea of the wall. But the Lord did, and so it was built. Nehemiah really didn't care about Political Correctness, he cared about doing what the Lord had set him to do. Good advice. From chapter 2,

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

But before this could happen, back when he was a servant in the Captivity, he prayed to the Lord, which is also good advice. From chapter 1,

2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

I am convinced that NOTHING worthwhile done for the Lord, no matter how strong the effort or how worthy the motive, can really prosper without prayer. It is perhaps the least practiced of all the spiritual disciplines.
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Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 through 13. This is the record of the event that we Christians call Pentecost. Pentecost was of course already a special day in the Jewish calendar, coming 50 days after Passover. But to Christians it has a special meaning - it is the date that the Holy Spirit came in power to indwell believers. It was an event that could not have been explained away by some trick of nature or of men. It could only be what it in fact was, God's presence in a very real and continuous way. As it is today. There are and have long been various ideas, even heated arguments, about the nature of the Holy Spirit, the Spiritual Gifts, the continuation of the various gifts, and so on. I don't know the answer, but I find some of the disputes to be at odds with Jesus command to ''Love one another''
At any rate, it creates quite a stir, and we'll be talking about it some.

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Today's Reading June 15

This morning we take up Ezra, chapters 9 and 10. This is an account of repentance - the people of God had, beginning with the leaders, had tried to ''be like everybody else'', in defiance of the Lord's laws, and had taken wives from among the heathens. This is, of course, the classic way that they became involved in false gods - the mothers taught their children and the next generation went astray. Ezra is trying to restore the Temple, and learns of the wickedness of the people. The result we see in chapter 9

2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?

This Evening, we begin the Acts of the Apostles. This is very nearly as important as the Gospels are - and yes, I realize that ALL Scripture is important, but it's not all equally important.
We begin with Acts chapter 1. This is the account, beginning with the Ascension of Jesus, Now they have to begin to carry out His order ''follow Me''.

Today's Reading June 14

This morning we continue in the book of Ezra, chapters 6,7,8
This is not a part of the Bible that many people get into, which is unfortunate. For it shows something of how the people of the Lord should conduct themselves in bad circumstances. Take, for example, a good verse from chapter 7,

10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

. Have we, ourselves, ''prepared our hearts to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it?''. Speaking for myself, not well.

This evening, we finish the Gospel of John, all of chapter 21
Jesus, having arisen from the grave, now meets with His disciples briefly. He gives them - and us - the marching orders ''Follow me.'' And so we should.

Today June 14th

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith
becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated
on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage
to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American,
and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here.
Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag..
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...
and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Today is Flag Day in the United States. Honor it any way you can.

Today's Reading June 13

Today's Old Testament is from the book of Ezra, chapters 3, 4, and 5
The people, having been given permission, have returned to Jerusalem and have begun to rebuild the Temple. And they take great joy in this.

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Our New Testament reading is from the Gospel of John chapter 20
Just as the readings from the last few days, the record leading up to the Crucifixion, right through Jesus' burial, are arguably the darkest in all of Scripture, here we get into the most hopeful. He's alive! The tomb is empty!
In a way, we can not imagine what went through their minds. In another way, we do. Ray vander Laan once said that every believer must, in his mind's eye, go to that tomb, look inside, and verify that He is risen. That's not a bad way to think about it. I know that He is risen, just as He said. And as a result of a vacant cross and an empty tomb, I have hope.

This morning we get into the book of Ezra chapters 1 and 2. Both elements of the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah have fallen to the enemies. The walls of Jerusalem are broken down, the Temple has been desecrated and burned, many of the people slaughtered in hideous ways, and much of the remnant has been carried off captive. Quite a come-down from the great hope and promise at the end of the Exodus. But just.
Starting here in the book of Ezra, we see the start of the Return. Cyrus the king orders that the Temple may be rebuilt. It is a long way on foot from Babylon (near Baghdad) to Jerusalem - look it up on a map. I wonder what was going on in the minds of the travellers.
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This evening we continue in the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verses 23 through 42.
The final parts of the Crucifixion. Jesus gives up the ghost, and is interred in a new tomb. The Devil thinks he won. WRONG!

Today's Reading June 11

Good Monday to you. It's just past 05:30 here and it's warming already.
This morning's reading will be 2nd Chronicles 34, 35, and 36. This will complete the Chronicles. And it's not a fun read.
It starts well, mind you. Josiah is counted as one of the good kings and he was a very good one. And he sought the Lord. But in the end the nation had become so wicked for so long that judgment, while delayed, came. Josiah died not far from the place we call Armageddon. And his successor (have we seen this before?) is wicked. And judgment comes, and it's not pretty.

14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Anybody think it can't happen here?
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This evening's reading continues in the Gospel of John 19, verses 1 through 22.
This is the Crucifixion of our Lord. Nothing more needs be said.

Today's Reading June 10

This morning = 2nd Chronicles, chapters 32 and 33
We see in chapter 32 more of the story of Hezekiah, a good king, one of the very best. And we see that the LORD gave him victory over his enemies, and long life, and great riches, and the love of of his subjects. And then, as ever, Hezekiah dies at the end of the account in chapter 32.
In chapter 33, Hezekiah's son Manasseh takes the throne. And he is of a decidedly different sort, something we see over and over. Though this is a bit different than some of these accounts. Manasseh does very wickedly, and receives the punishment, but not the condemnation of the LORD. And so,

12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

Good result, right? Well, partially. Manasseh repented, and worked to reverse things. And then he died. And his son was more wicked than he had been, and did not repent.

22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Is this any way to run a kingdom?
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This evening - the Gospel of John, chapter 18, verses 24 through 40
This is Jesus bound, and the account begins with one of those very sad accounts,

25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.
26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?
27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.

Fulfilling what Jesus had told Peter only hours before.
There is another phrase here, one that seems to be seen in our own world altogether too much.

38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

I hear on too many lips the notions expressed that ''everything's relative'' and ''whatever works for me'' or other ways of denying the very existence of objective absolute truth. Pilate wasn't the first to deny this, probably. It is a sad thing that he has so many like-minded followers, each as foolish as he was.

Good morning and I hope that your weekend is beginning well
The morning reading is from 2nd Chronicles, chapters 29, 30, and 31. This is the account of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah is about the last good king before the fall. And he is a very good king, and the LORD blesses him. There is a gem here:

20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

With all his heart. No double-mindedness, no ''both yes and no'', no having a foot in each camp. With ALL his heart. Good words for today too.
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The evening reading is from the Gospel of John chapter 18, verses 1 through 23
Jesus is betrayed, and bound, and taken to the place of the High Priest. Simon Peter and one other disciple - out of all the others - followed behind and went that place. The others are not mentioned here, I assume that they fled and hid. But Peter went. And yet, in short order, we see a prophecy of Jesus begin to be fulfilled:

15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.

It did not take long for Peter to begin to deny Jesus. But he was not the last to do so, was he?

Today's Reading June 08

Good morning and Happy Friday!
This morning's reading from the Old Testament continues, as we will for the next few days, in 2nd Chronicles. Today we study chapters 26, 27, and 28.
We know that in the next few days we will see the accounts of the fall of the kingdoms of Judah and of Israel, and that bright hope we recall when the children of Israel ended their long Exodus from bondage seems to have fallen forever (though that was not so, not totally). And here we see more evidence of the rot. That rot is, as I said the other day, altogether too familiar in our own lands, and I believe that the same disaster may overtake us as well.

In 26 we see Uzziah, a good king, and a strong king, who fell into the sin of pride.

16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the LORD God.
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

In chapter 27, a sign that all is not yet lost

6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.

But he was followed in chapter 28 by his own son, a man of a different sort.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.
3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

did you see verse 3?? Go back and look, and consider: what sort of man is it who will throw his own children into a fire as a human sacrifice to his god? Not a good man, but an evil man. We see a very similar thing in own time - the wicked demon-cult of Islam openly preaches ''death for the glory of Allah'' as even small children are encouraged to to vile murder in the name of the demon named Allah. Some things never change by the way.

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The evening reading is the Gospel of John, chapter 17.
This is a prayer by Jesus. It is worth noting for that reason alone, and the fact that He knew that we would be studying it some 2000 years later just adds to that. He expected, even desired, us to know about it. And there are some important things there. You can pick out some, easily, and over time different ones may seem particularly significant. That is as it should be. Today, I like,

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Today's Reading June 07

Good morning, all.
This morning's Old Testament passage in our through-the-Bible-in-a-year journey is 2nd Chronicles, chapters 23, 24, and 25.
More of the same. Evil prospers, then a good king comes for a while, then the people return to their natural inclination to do evil.
from chapter 24

18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.
21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.
23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

If you have not done so already, go over to the Focus on the Family website and listen to the two-part message that Dr. John McArthur delivered at the National Day of Prayer. We see in Scripture that in times of great wickedness among God's chosen people, He would at times turn them over to their enemies. Dr. MacArthur believes, as do I, that we are at the same point in America. God has blessed us greatly and protected us from our enemies on all sides. We can no longer count on that. There is an alternative, and we looked at it the other day:

2nd Chronicles chapter 7: 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

And that is the ONLY alternatitve, until He returns.

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Gospel of John, chapter 16, verses 16 through 33.
More of Jesus' words with great import. One of my favorites is

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Where's the fence?

Go over and check out this site: www.wheresthefence.com if you want to raise your blood pressure up to a safe level.
I am furious beyond measure at the actions in Washington by some of our electeds, unfortunately beginning with the President, who have obstinately determined to push an amnesty through for those who have criminally invaded our country. I can not determine with any degree of certainty whether their actions and non-actions simply constitute malfeasance in office, or if the matter rises to the level of treason. I'm seriously leaning towards the latter.
This is not only a bad bad bill - we would expect nothing less from something involving the drunken murderer Ted Kennedy - but it is really much worse than that; it is the sort of bad that over time becomes worse and worse. One might reasonably conclude that such is the intent.

Today's Reading June 6

Today is D-Day. I spoke with a couple ladies on Monday, one about 19, one about 60. Neither knew what June 6th commemorates, neither knew what I meant by D-day, neither knew what Normandy is.
But for those of us who do know, and remember, to those who were there, thank you.
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This morning's reading from the Old Testament comes from 2nd Chronicles, chapters 20, 21, and 22
from Ch 20 in a time of distress:

5 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

yet even after that, all was not quite right

32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.
33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

and that leads to no good thing
starting with his son and successor in chapter 21

4 Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.
5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

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This evening's reading from the New Testament is from the Gospel of John, chapter 16, verses 1 through 15.
These are some of Jesus' last words for His followers before they go out to Gethsemane where He will be betrayed. And the subject matter is important, and timely, for it speaks of the Holy Spirit in these days just after Pentecost. I am a member of a Southern Baptist church, but in my heart I'm more than half a Pentecostal type. This is all Good Stuff.

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Today's Reading June 05

This morning's reading in the Old Testament is from Second Chronicles, chapters 17, 18, and 19.

This evening's New Testament passage is from the Gospel of John, chapter 15.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Ps 35:19, 69:4
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Today's Reading June 04

This morning's passage from the Old Testament is Second Chronicles, chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16.


This evening's reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 14.
I can't really pick anything out of this - the whole passage is so extraordinary. Those of us who have been blessed to have been raised in godly homes and to have spent time in the Bible from a young age have probably been taught - and taught - from this section many times, because there is just so much there that is of vital importance.

This morning's reading from the Old Testament comes from Second Chronicles chapters 10, 11, and 12.
Solomon has died and his son has taken the throne. And immediately trouble starts, the kingdom is divided in two, and things head downhill fast. The old enemies immediately attack and the whole thing gets real bad.
A lot of good record here, but one verse stands out for me, from chapter 12:

14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

This evening's reading from the New testament is from the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verses 18 through 38.
We're still at the meaning-laden last supper, and encounter what are, for many of us, very familiar territory:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Great picture

This was found over at Military Motivator site. We have permission of that proprietor to display this picture

It says quite a lot. It is apparently people in Iraq taking cover behind one of our people after a homicide attack. I doubt that you'll see it on CNN or CBS or ABC or the New York Times.

This morning's reading from the Old Testament comes from Second Chronicles, chapters 7, 8, and 9.
There's some real good and real bad stuff here.
Who would not want to have been there for

1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.
3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

and this passage is familiar to many of us

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

And I do believe that.
But I also believe

19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

If you believe in the one, you have to believe the other. And we aren't looking good in that respect.
And, in the midst of all of this, in chapter 8 we see a bad sign

11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

Egypt was a world they were supposed to have left behind, not to bring back in. Solomon ignored that, and the results affected his posterity, and us as well. Nothing good comes out of introducing sin into your life or your house.
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This evening's reading from the New Testament is from the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verses 1 through 17.
This is from the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples in a room together for one more time. We know, from our vantage, what is soon to follow. They did not. But Jesus did. Read the passage with that in mind - that He knew what would happen, how they would respond. He also - and do not miss this - knew that some 2000 years later, we also would be reading and praying over this account. Keep that in mind.
I'm drawn this morning to verse 17

17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Do them. Don't just read and admire them. Do them.

Today's Reading June 01

Happy Friday and Happy New Month.
This morning's Old Testament reading is Second Chronicles, chapters 4,5,6
There are some occasions in the records of Scripture that I dearly wish that I had been there. Here's one of those occasions:

13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;
14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

Wouldn't you want to be there for that?

John, chapter 12, verses 20 through 50.
Another great memory verse:

20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

A right and proper statement. We should all say it, all have it in our hearts. Nothing will do until we find Jesus.